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New Chief Fire Officer appointed at Gloucestershire

28 January 2011

Jon Hall is to take up the post of Chief Fire Officer on February 1. He will take over from Chris Griffin, who will be leaving the service on January 31. Jon joined the county's fire team in April 2010 as its Deputy Chief and has worked hard to deliver plans that will see the service through the cuts that all local authorities are currently facing.

Jon's career started in Brighton in 1982 and early experiences included the mainland bombing campaign that saw the Grand Hotel attack on the Conservative party conference. More recently he commanded the four-day rescue following the tragic warehouse fire in Atherstone-upon-Stour and, as Assistant Chief in Hereford and Worcester, was operations commander during the extensive floodings before the water came further down the Avon and Severn causing our own floods.

On behalf of the Chief Fire Officers Association, Jon leads the UK on Fire Service responses to terrorist attack and natural disaster, creating many of the protocols that were used successfully around the country in 2007.

Looking to the future, Jon explains that Gloucestershire has superb firefighters who are very much valued by the communities they serve. He sees his job now as being to take one of the lowest cost and highest performing services in the country and make it even better while delivering substantial savings.

Jon, said: "The one thing I can promise is that we will continue to put the front-line first and make sure that firefighters deliver ever-improving service to the people of Gloucestershire".

Will Windsor-Clive, the county council's cabinet member for Community Safety, said: "Our Fire and Rescue Service has a great record of supporting communities at times of crisis and I am delighted to have secured a Chief Fire Officer who will value this and take us even further forward. Jon will also take responsibility for a range of other county council services and his focus on improving front-line services will be essential at this time".